Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race Chapter 368 368: 368 - Fifty Floors from the End

Dragon God's Hole, 2950th Floor.

A world turned upside down.

The vast mountain ranges of the Dragon World could only be described as inverted. The sky lay beneath their feet, while the mountains soared above.

An immense, deep blue void stretched out below, as if the entire world had been flipped inside out, with colossal mountain chains looming overhead.

Rivers of clouds cascaded downwards – yet this 'down' was where the sky should have been. Enormous masses of earth and stone were suspended at impossible angles, defying all logic.

Even amidst one of the most challenging battles of his life, Rygar's thoughts were ceaseless.

His mind raced without pause.

Even while confronting four immensely powerful Dragon Generals, wielding demonic spears and wielding all sorts of peculiar magic, his thoughts continued to wander.

The original Six Worlds.

Each world was meant to represent a distinct race.

But due to the wrath of the First Dragon God and the schemes of Hitogami, each was eventually diminished to a mere facet of the current world.

Even as he rapidly ascended through the floors, Rygar had managed to grasp the broad strokes of the five destroyed worlds' histories, at least in outline.

The Dragon God's Hole didn't just display ruins, monsters, and bosses; it presented history as the fallen civilizations themselves had experienced it.

Consequently, for the Beast God World, the narrative unfolded quite differently compared to its depiction within the Dragon World.

One day, the Beast Race lost the Sacred Beast of their world – the mount belonging to the First Beast God and his most steadfast companion.

This being, born from nature itself and perhaps the very first 'Miko' to exist, vanished without a trace. In their fury, the Beast Race marshaled their armies to embark on a search.

However, before their search could truly commence, the Dragon God, accompanied by his Five Dragon Generals, invaded their world.

The Dragon God, naturally, had his own compelling reasons.

He was in pursuit of the murderer of his wife and the mother of his child, Lunaria, who was the daughter of the Human God.

Both were manipulated, cruelly drawn into a pointless war.

Thus, the Beast World, the first to fall, was annihilated due to the foolishness of two gods and the insidious cunning of a third.

This marked the precipice of the Dragon God's inane and brutal crusade to assign blame.

In his obsessive search, he proceeded to obliterate the Sea World, the Sky World, and finally, he reached the Demon World.

By this juncture, the First Dragon God's savagery and bloodshed had already spiraled into an irreversible catastrophe.

Together with his Five unwavering Generals, the Dragon God annihilated not just populations, but entire worlds, executing these acts without a shred of mercy.

In a peculiar way, Orsted had inherited a portion of that ruthlessness within his very core. Anything obstructing his path, anything standing between him and his objective, must be eradicated.

The extermination of entire civilizations still proved insufficient to satiate the rage of the misguided First Dragon God. He was blind to his own hypocrisy, massacring entire populations over the demise of a single woman.

The Demon World was the sole power capable of repelling the Dragon God's invasion. At the very least, unlike the Dragon Race, they possessed a justifiable cause for combat.

Yet, even they were ultimately vanquished.

By witnessing history through the lens of each civilization, Rygar could perceive the events in stark, vivid detail, exactly as they had transpired.

In those ancient times, individuals were not particularly subtle or calculating. Even among the world's most formidable beings, a certain naivete characterized their relationships.

With one glaring, significant exception.

The Human God.

True to his titular role as the god of humans, he was the weakest among the deities, yet paradoxically, the most cunning.

After all, this was the very method by which humans consistently emerged victorious.

Through guile and through intellect.

Despite this so-called 'innocence' shared among the races, Rygar found himself utterly repulsed by the Dragon Race.

Could the Labyrinth be influencing him, instilling this hatred for that particular race?

He could not ascertain this with certainty.

It was genuinely challenging to differentiate.

However, one fact remained undeniable: merely by revealing history – the True History – the grand labyrinth known as the Dragon God's Hole had succeeded in making Rygar despise the Dragon Race of that bygone era.

And above all others, his loathing was directed at the First Dragon God.

The most prominent among them, and the most contemptible.

That entire race, in a sense, constituted a monumental error. At least, within that specific age.

Their hypocrisy. Their arrogance. Their sheer stupidity. Their inherent cruelty.

And their so-called 'unwavering loyalty' to their leader.

Necross Lacross, a Great Demon King, had been morally capable of opposing his Demon God the instant the possibility of betrayal by the Dragon God was even voiced.

Yet, among the Dragon Generals, not a single one truly questioned the grim reality unfolding before them. Even knowing that some among them had been manipulated by Hitogami, Rygar still harbored a profound contempt for them.

He harbored disdain for them, for within the final stages of the Labyrinth, set within the Dragon World, he had witnessed the history recounted by the Dragon Race itself.

The Five Dragon Generals, their journeys, their actions, their choices, were merely footsteps sinking ever deeper into their own demise.

And now, confronted by these so-called Loyal Dragon Generals, he could finally behold their ultimate and most profound act of folly.

These exceptionally loyal subordinates, who had never once genuinely questioned their insane, world-destroying deity, finally staged a rebellion only after four entire worlds had already been annihilated.

Rygar, with genuine effort, attempted to comprehend their perspective once more. The internal conflict they must have felt as they observed the Dragon God's actions.

Hitogami's subtle machinations. Their wills gradually eroding. He tried, at the very least, to muster a sliver of sympathy.

Yet, all that surfaced was scorn.

Witnessing the formidable dragons finally abandon the one constant they had never forsaken—their allegiance—Rygar found himself incapable of even offering praise to Hitogami.

The strategy, though elaborate, had been astonishingly straightforward.

Despite this, it had succeeded.

How was this possible?

Because his targets were simpletons!

The indignation within Rygar's spirit intensified with every clash against one of the monstrous apparitions representing the Dragon Generals.

Szilard, the Saint Dragon General.

Dora, the Armored Dragon General.

Chaos, the Mad Dragon General.

And Maxwell, the Black Dragon General.

Undoubtedly, these were corrupted replicas of the originals, distorted echoes reassembled by the Labyrinth, but owing to the history this place unveiled, Rygar knew precisely which figures each one embodied.

This must have been the very alliance that confronted the First Dragon God during their ultimate betrayal.

Rygar encountered considerable difficulty in the engagements, primarily due to battling numerous adversaries simultaneously within a completely inverted reality.

Even so, the state of parity did not persist for extended durations.

The Apocalypse Beast, much like the Dragon God of that bygone era, ultimately triumphed over his adversaries by sheer force.

Naturally, these iterations were likely significantly less potent than their original counterparts.

Even so, this was not a challenge that a solitary individual should have been equipped to confront.

Perhaps it truly required a monster to vanquish another.

Rygar dispatched Dora with a Dimensional Rupture, tearing open a rift in the fabric of space that bisected the Armored General along with the very dimension they occupied.

He vanquished Szilard with Twelve Lightnings of Olympus, a simultaneous onslaught of twelve strikes from all directions, shattering his defenses and immolating his saintly form before his spear could complete its final arc.

He reduced Maxwell to ashes with a Purple Laceration, a blast of fire and ruin so potent it carved across kilometers of inverted heavens, leaving in its wake a blazing violet trail that consumed the Black Dragon General along with everything in its vicinity.

And finally, he annihilated Chaos by summoning a Black Hole directly above him.

Without question, this was the conflict wherein Rygar sustained the most grievous injuries since his entry into the Dragon God's Hole.

He was compelled to regenerate repeatedly.

He was forced to restore his Armor time and again.

At one point, his combat grew so frenzied that Eris could not even draw near, relegated to observing from a considerable distance.

Which, in reality, was already an accomplishment beyond the capabilities of most in the world. Merely witnessing a battle of that magnitude posed a lethal threat even to formidable warriors.

That was precisely the rationale behind Rygar's decision to bring Eris along.

While she might not prove advantageous in the most dire confrontations, she would never become a liability.

And as the struggle in that inverted realm finally concluded, leaving behind only faint remnants of that floor's former state, Rygar was still in the process of regenerating after the ultimate defeat of Chaos, and at last, his Sixth Sense found its peace.

Then, a distinct whistle reached his ears.

He turned and observed his cherished wife gracefully leaping across the fragmented floating stone formations, making her way towards him.

The strain was visibly etched upon her countenance. Though her physical form remained at its absolute peak, her mental acuity was noticeably diminished at that juncture.

Despite this, she resolutely strove to maintain an air of pride and cheerfulness.

"They really gave you a pounding! Hehehe!"

Rygar offered a smile and playfully flicked Eris's forehead.

"Ow!"

"And who are you to speak?" he retorted playfully. "You looked utterly terrified when that light attack struck me. Did you truly believe I wouldn't notice?"

Eris gently touched the spot on her forehead where he had flicked her, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"Hmph! I knew you would ultimately prevail! I can foresee the future, remember?!"

Without uttering another word, Eris boldly sprang towards the portal admitting access to the subsequent floor.

Rygar watched her progress for a fleeting moment.

He then activated the communication device integrated into his armor to ascertain if there was any significant news.

He rapidly reviewed the disseminated information on the communicator.

Assaults were successful, and the invasion was advancing with considerable speed and efficacy.

While the Iron Legion maintained the offensive, Rygar's focus sharpened considerably when he encountered the mention of Verdia's Future Vision. He felt a slight tension and a surge of curiosity at the reference to Saint Millis. He wondered about the extent of this individual's strength. What truly captured his attention, however, wasn't the warning itself, but the complete absence of Saint Millis's resurrection from the Future Diary. This indicated that Oldgar had never faced this event; it was a novel scheme, something Hitogami had opted to execute only in this particular timeline. Regardless, if Saint Millis was considered a trump card, their power had to be immense. This alone provided Rygar with ample reason to intensify his efforts.

Rygar lifted his gaze, observing Eris for a moment. Despite the fatigue from continuous combat and the clear mental strain she endured, she pressed onward without a single complaint. She didn't lament the pain, the exhaustion, him, or the urgency – at least not genuinely. She simply persevered with a fierce tenacity that was uniquely hers. Witnessing this, Rygar surged forward simultaneously with her. Badigadi and Laplace were surely drawing nearer; they couldn't afford to stop. Only fifty floors remained.

Most likely, from this point to the very end, they would encounter nothing but dragons and standard draconic monsters. Of course, 'standard' was a rather lenient description for beings capable of effortlessly annihilating ordinary adventurers, each possessing extraordinary danger. However, for Rygar and Eris, these creatures no longer posed the primary challenge. If anything, these monsters served only to prevent the pair from resting, which was the actual issue. Even the 'simpler' floors necessitated constant vigilance and movement, precluding any opportunity to sit and recuperate. They couldn't pause even for a minute to calm their minds, collect their thoughts, or simply breathe in tranquility. But they were far too close to falter now.

Nine hours remained until Saint Millis's revival in Begaritt. Nine hours. Rygar silently echoed the number as he passed through the portal to the subsequent floor. It was time for the final push towards the Labyrinth's deepest levels. If there was any silver lining, it was that many floors within the Dragon World focused on pure combat, allowing Rygar and Eris to bypass the majority. And that's precisely what they did.

The 2951st Floor barely registered their presence before they breached it like twin projectiles. A swarm of armored wyverns ascended amidst inverted mountains and clouds, but Rygar cleaved a path through them with a swing so wide it painted half the upside-down sky in azure. Eris followed, gliding through the remaining creatures in a fluid motion, her Foresight Eye identifying the most direct routes. On the 2952nd Floor, smaller dragons with obsidian scales and contorted horns descended in formation. Rygar didn't even acknowledge them as a surge of gravity warped the space around them, pulling them downward, while Eris shot ahead, a crimson blur slicing through the rest before their assault could be completed.

Growing stronger with every step. Moving faster with every step. No respite. No rest. The Dragon World became a blur before them. Rygar could feel the mounting tension and urgency within him. Ahead, the conclusion of the Dragon God's Hole loomed closer. Simultaneously, unbeknownst to them, roughly a hundred floors below, their pursuers were steadily closing the distance. Badigadi and Vita continued their rapid descent, employing every available resource. And between these two parties, Fate wove its mysterious path for each.